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51 Rutgers L. Rev. 1207 (1998-1999)
What's God Got to Do with It - Church and State Collaboration in the Subordination of Women and Domestic Violence

handle is hein.journals/rutlr51 and id is 1223 raw text is: WHAT'S GOD GOT TO Do WITH IT? CHURCH AND STATE COLLABORATION IN THE SUBORDINATION OF WOMEN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Linda L. Ammons* In this Article, Professor Ammons explores the role of Judeo- Christian institutions, ideology, and doctrine in promoting women's subordination and in condoning domestic violence. Professor Ammons traces how the dogma of male supremacy is construed from Biblical narratives, becomes part of church codified hierarchical gender roles, particularly within the marital relationship, and how religion was used to endorse the submission of women to men through brute force, if necessary. Ancient secular myths and theories recasted as Divine imperatives in Canon law and Christian tradition, which the State accepted as custom and law, shaped the courts' acceptance of violence against women in private and in some instances public spheres. Despite the criminal and civil justice system's modification of laws concerning domestic violence, Professor Ammons argues that many religious communities have been slow to reevaluate their traditions, to ac- knowledge their culpability in tolerating domestic violence, and to actively challenge the ideological assumptions that support violence against women within the belief structures of such religious commu- nities. Battered women who hold traditional religious views on male supremacy remain vulnerable because of their need to reconcile the tensions of their legal rights of bodily integrity and autonomy with * Associate Professor of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of The Cleveland-Marshall Fund in preparation of this Article and thank the following persons: Paul Carrington, Vernellia Randall, Kunal Parker, Helen Jenkins, Patti Falk, Phyllis L. Crocker, Susan Becker, Karla Springman, Joel Finer, Bae Smith, Anna Frazier, Ellen Quinn, Marie Rehmar, Michelle Morrow, Connie Barry, Nadine Hauptman, Shawn Cormier, Regina Harden, Leon Boyd, Angela Privitera, Yvette Barksdale, Dena Davis, Terrie Collier, Sally Goldfarb, Monica Clardy, Mary Ann Jarochovic, Susan Holman James, Annmarie Pinarski, Laura Dwyer, The Mid- Atlantic and Midwest People of Color Scholarship Conferences, and the American Academy of Religion. 1207

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